Flowery Branch City Council is set to vote tonight on setting qualifying and a March 6 special election to replace Chris Fetterman, who resigned Tuesday because of a job transfer to Florida.

The city proposes qualifying to take place Jan. 25-27, with advance and absentee voting starting Feb. 13, City Clerk Marja Burney said Wednesday.

The council could give its first OK to an ordinance laying out those dates at its scheduled monthly meeting, set to begin at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 5517 Main St.

Final approval is set to occur at the council's Jan. 19 meeting.

The ordinance calls for qualifying to take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 25-26 and 8 a.m. to noon Jan. 27 at City Hall. The qualifying fee is $144.

Fetterman won re-election on Nov. 8, defeating former councilwoman Mary Jones. His second four-year term as Post 2 councilman began Sunday, and he was scheduled to be sworn in at tonight's meeting.

Councilman Damon Gibbs, who defeated incumbent Post 1 Councilwoman Amanda Swafford on Nov. 8, will be sworn in tonight.

The council's approval of the special election ordinance is crucial for city council to have a hand in governing the city over the next few months.

The board is now down two members: Fetterman and Kris Yardley, who resigned his Post 3 seat last year to pursue what would be an unsuccessful bid for the state House District 25 seat in South Hall.

And Tara Richards, a U.S. Air Force Reserves captain, will be deployed for six months to Afghanistan, beginning sometime in late February or early March, she said.

The council's other members are Gibbs and Joe Anglin.

The city charter requires a mayor or interim mayor and three council members to conduct a meeting.

Yardley's seat will be decided March 6 in a special election between Jason Covert, Fred Richards and Pat Zalewski.